Baillieu commits funds to improve road safety

Victorian Government has set aside $55 million for road infrastructure projects to improve safety

August 20, 2012

The Victorian Government has set aside $55 million for road infrastructure projects to improve safety.

The funds have been allocated for 80 projects under the Safer Roads Infrastructure Program, which aims to reduce crashes at locations with a high number of casualty incidents.

Premier Ted Baillieu says about $31 million has been allocated to improve intersection safety, with $24 million to be spent reducing the incidence and severity of head-on and run-off-road crashes.

Melbourne’s western suburbs will receive a significant chunk of funding, with $5.8 million to be spent upgrading Derrimut/Hopkins Road between Tarneit and Rockbank. Another $5.5 million will be spent on a run-off-road project on the Melton Highway and $1.3 million on safety improvements for Somerton Road in Greenvale.

The Belgrave-Hallam road in the city’s east will also be addressed where high-visibility billboards will be installed to alert motorists to the tight curve.

"Run-off-road prevention treatments, such as safety barriers and tactile edge lines, will be used to help prevent crashes on major regional routes including the Surf Coast Highway, Hume Freeway and Midland Highway," Baillieu says.

"In addition to 15 run-off-road prevention projects, there are 64 intersection improvements planned throughout Melbourne and regional Victoria, which vary in scope from installation of new traffic signals to alerting median strips.

"Improving our road infrastructure is just one of the many ways that we can contribute to lowering the road toll and reducing serious injury crashes."Up to $1.3 million will go towards safety improvements in north-central Victoria, with $310,000 towards the notorious intersection of the Calder Highway and Calder Alternate Highway in Ravenswood.